The Oschnur Switch
by ardavenport
Summary: The Doctor and Sarah are having a pleasant holiday when some bad fruit spoils the day, along with some local officials who coerce the Doctor and Sarah into helping them with a problem in an unusual way.
1. Chapter 1

**THE OSCHNUR SWITCH**

by ardavenport

* * *

**o::o::o Part 1**

"Doctor, what are you doing up there?"

'Admiring the view, of 's magnificent. Come up and have a look."

*Oh, no." Sarah fiercely planted her feet on the ground. "I'm not getting up there. I'll break my neck. You're probably not supposed to be there, anyway."

'Don't be such a spoilsport, Sarah." The Doctor knelt at the edge of the stone table and reached out a hand to her. 'No one's going to mind our being up here for a little while."

Sarah hesitated a few more seconds, but the Doctor was persistent. 'Come on," he said, stretching out his hand again.

"You're getting soft, Sarah," she said to herself, as she started climbing up the pedestal.

"that was that?"

"I said, We'll probably get caught.''

Sarah took the Doctor's hand and scrambled up the stone table leg. The Doctor took her arm and led her to one side of the platform.

It was a splendid view. The sculpture they were standing on was at the top of the hill. A narrow road started at the base of the statue and made a crooked path down through a small forest of yellow leafy palms, flat topped orange trees and gigantic green ferns. It emptied out into a wide highway leading straight away from them. Colorful, boxlike buildings lined the street and people and small vehicles freely wandered about. In the distance, Sarah could see black glass cylindrical structures standing in a green and gray field dotted with both large and small spacecraft.

'You can see the Palasis Way from up here." The Doctor grinned broadly.

"You mean we really are on Oschnur?'

"Of course! Port Kat Schnur, to be precise,' he stated casually. He pointed to the gray and green field in the distance. 'You can see the spaceport over there. Looks like we're just in time for the summer festival.

"Well, that's a switch."

'What?" the Time Lord asked.

"We got here on the first try."

"Are you implying that I don't know where I'm going?"

"Only most of the time."

The Doctor took a very offended stance, turned and strode over to the edge. "Are you coming?" he demanded.

"Where?"

"Well, we are here for a holiday. We can't get much of that standing up here."

Sarah trotted over to him and he lowered her to the pedestal.

"Ugh," she said, as she looked in the direction of the Doctor's feet.

"Yes,: he agreed. "We're not the first people to come up here." The statue that they'd been using as a viewing platform was a huge structure consisting of three bug-like creatures apparently playing cards at a round table. The whole thing was made of pristine, whitewashed concrete, but the surface of the table they'd been standing on was covered with graffiti.

"Must be a very popular spot," the Time Lord commented.

When they were down, Sarah turned to him. "Well, now where?"

"This way," he said, pointing over his shoulder.

The walk down the hill was a pleasant one. The Doctor whistled the bridge-crossing song from 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' and Sarah strolled along happily behind him. For once, she had worn sensible shoes and was really enjoying the walk.

When they got down to the central street that they'd seen from the statue, Sarah found that the buildings weren't quite as box-like as she'd thought. Some were round and some triangular. Most of them had attractive trim around rectangular windows and doors. People milled about the walkways. Port Kal-Schnur was a place well known to travelers: insectoids, reptiles, robots, and huge furry somethings with big, nasty teeth. There were some humans mixed in, but the most predominant type by far were some medium-sized, furred humanoids with large eyes and moveable pointed ears at the top of their heads.

'Seems to be in full swing."

"What does?"

"The summer festival, didn't I mention it?"

"Yes, you did, but what is it?"

"Oh well, it's really sort of a made-up holiday. Kal-Schnur is a bit of a tourist trap." The Doctor grinned."But it's still a nice place to visit."

They strolled along the avenue until they came to an immense square with an open air market. They peered in at the booths overflowing with corralled handicrafts, useful, useless, and otherwise, until they came to a stall filled with furniture. The Doctor took a great fancy to a large sofa with a box-like wooden frame and big, fluffy purple cushions.

"Hmm." He smiled broadly and bounced up and town. "Quite comfy, really. The Emperor Z'Tullis VIII gave me one of these for helping him find one of his daughters. Had a devil of a time getting the thing into the TARDIS." He patted the armrest fondly.

"That's silly. How could you get it through the door?"

"I haven't ever showed you the dimensional transfer access, have I?"

He hadn't and she was about to ask him about it when another idea took the Doctor's fancy.

"How about lunch?*

"Famished; are you buying?"

The Doctor's face turned sour for a moment. Quickly, he went through his pockets. He pulled out all manner of junk and looked at each until he found what he was seeking.

"Ah ha!" he crowed, waving three orange and maroon pieces of plastic in the air. He refilled his pockets, leaped off the sofa, and headed through the crowds for the shops that lined the market's square. His scarf ends and Sarah followed in his wake.

After some searching, he came across a plain blue and white metal booth sitting between a bakery and a car park. The Doctor stepped into the booth and pressed the green service button.

'May I help you?' A panel in front of the Doctor slid aside to reveal an automated teller.

"Yes, I'd like to exchange these.: The Doctor smiled warmly at the two blue electronic eyes and laid the three plastic cards on a shelf in front of the automaton. There was a whir and a dull red light flashed across the Doctor's cards. Then, click! A hole opened up and sucked away the cards. At the same time another hole opened and deposited several smaller peach and yellow engraved plastics in a little round holder to the Doctor's left.

"Three-hundred galactic credits, standard, for two-thousand zon, local. May I be of further service, sir?"

"No. I don't think so. Would you like anything from this nice computer, Sarah? No? Well, it is a nice computer, don't you think?: The Doctor babbled, pocketing the money.

"Thank you, sir. And have a nice day." The teller disappeared behind its sliding panel.

"This must be our day," Sarah commented, when he stepped out of the booth.

The Doctor beamed. Things did seem to be going right. "Now where would you like to eat?"

"Oh, anywhere that serves food, I suppose."

"Good!" They set out in search of a meal and settled on a nice place with open air tables that looked out onto the market.

The lunch was delicious, although the Doctor complained that it was criminal that Sarah should come all the way across the galaxy only to have fried chicken. Sarah countered that everything else on her plate was something she'd never heard of, let alone eaten, and that she wanted something familiar.

After using the restrooms and paying the bill, they continued their window shopping in the market.

They were just passing a row of food vendors when the Doctor got a yen for desert. He looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful sky, very much like Earth's, except for the yellow-green sun, and not a cloud in it. The Doctor looked back at the vendors and remembered reading somewhere that humans, particularly Earth humans, had an aversion to blue food. He wondered if this was true.

The Doctor crossed over to a fruit seller and bought two round, brilliant blue pashays. He then took them back to Sarah and offered one to her.

'Ugh, no thank you. I'm still full from lunch."

"Oh, come now, just because you don't like the color.: The Doctor took a large, juicy bite out of his own and offered the second to her again.

"I didn't say I didn't like the color." Sarah eyed the pashay suspiciously. 'I just said I'm full. No, thank-you."

Sarah's denial seemed to prove the theory so the Doctor tucked the second one in his coat pocket and finished his own. It seemed a bit ripe for his taste, but it was still tasty and he quickly finished it and put the seed in another coat pocket.

Sarah's aversion to the pashay may or may not have been on account of its color. Nevertheless, an hour later the Doctor was sick.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

Two aliens entered the plain waiting room. Filtered air, coordinated blue furniture, nondescript pictures on the wall and a few nondescript people greeted them. The small one helped the big one over to a gray furred young Oschnuran behind a polished-sythetic-topped desk.

Zeges looked up at the two humans.

"Excuse me," the female introduced herself and her friend. "My friend isn't feeling very well and we thought he ought to see a doctor."

The male leaned on the female's arm, in a posture of grim suffering. He did not even look up when the female-Smith, introduced him and he trembled slightly. Zeges judged the situation to merit immediate attention and dispensed with some of the official formalities. "Yes, come with me." Smoothly, he took the Doctor's arm and escorted the two to one of the examination rooms. :I will inform Dr. Gennis of your presence," he said softly, before leaving.

Sarah sighed as she pulled up a three legged stool next to the table the Doctor was lying on. The room they were in now was typical of most medical facilities-white walls and subdued lighting, with a few strategically placed bright ones. Glass-doored cabinets stacked with bottles and bottles of unidentifiable things. There was a bit more electronic equipment than Sarah might have expected, including what looked like a computer terminal near the head of the examination table. The Doctor ignored all of this an concentrated on his misery.

"How do you feel?" Sarah asked.

"Terrible." The Doctor put a hand to his forehead. Nasty little acid bugs were boiling inside of him. His stomach was preparing to rebel and he could feel a pressure bulding in his lower abdomen. And now he was getting a headache. "I still think it wa the squash."

"Oh, have it your way." Immediately Sarah regretted being short with her companion. He wasn't feeling well after all. "Well, it's been a lovely day, Doctor, otherwise. I mean . . . I wouldn't have expected anything like this happening."

"Nonsense," the Doctor answered without opening his eyes. "This sort of thing happens to tourists all the time."

At that moment, an Oschnuran and another nurse entered the room. "Hello," she began quietly.

_Did all of these people have soft voices?_ Sarah wondered. This one was tall for an Oschnuran, about six feet. She had blue eyes, pale gray fur and black ears, face and hand markings that reminded Sarah very much of Siamese cat.

"I am Dr. Gennis, Doctor - -," she nodded to the Doctor, "and Smith."

"Sarah Jane," Sarah corrected.

"Sarah Jane," Gennis repeated. She introduced the nurse, a small, short Oschnuran with green eyes and faintly striped tan fur. "This is Cafnur, Sarah Jane. I need for you to answer some questions while I examine your friend."

"Uh, um, all right." Sarah answered, a little reluctant to leave. "Good luck, Doctor," she said as she was led from the room. The Doctor limply waved a hand in response and then lay still.

Gennis drew the computer teminal a little closer and pulled a medical probe out of her pocket. After removing his long scarf and gently unbuttoning his shirt and vest with delicate six-fingered hands, consisting of two thumbs and four fingers, she passed the probe over the Doctor's chest.

"Zeges speaks that you think you ate something that did not agree."

"Something like that," the Doctor suddenly opened his pale blue eyes very wide and looked straight at Gennis. "I know this isn't the best way to introduce myself," he told her in a strained voice, "but I really do think I'm going to be sick."

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

"Name?"

"Doctor."

"Planet of origin?"

"Gallifrey."

"Species?"

This one threw Sarah a bit. What was the Doctor, anyway? "Um, I don't know, He's from Gailifrey."

"Is he a human?"

"No," Sarah answered immediately. "He's a Time Lord.'

"A . . . Time Lord?"

"Yes."

Cafnur was a bit dubious about the entry, but typed it in nonetheless. "I shall need a general description of your friend."

This was a bit easier to handle. Basically human in appearance, brown curly hair, blue eyes, light skin. There was some confusion with the physical measurements since Cafnur didn't understand pounds and inches but they got around this by comparing the Doctor to Sarah's own height and weight.

"And a large protuberance?" Cafnur added, by pointing to the flat center of her own face, Sarah was surprised by this addition, but since Oschnurans didn't have noses, she reasoned that they might find the Doctor's a bit disturbing.

"Ah yes, he's got a big nose."

There was a whole stream of questions about allergies, personal habits, and medical history, all of which made Sarah realize how little she knew about the Doctor.

Cafnur completed the entries as well as she could and then turned to the human.

"I have recorded this information in a file for Doctor. As I said, it will be used by us only for the purpose of treating his and not be given to other persons without permission."

Sarah nodded.

"Now, as you are off-planet, I must inquire as to payment of the fee."

"Oh well, the Doctor's got all our money. I don't know what medical bills are like on this planet, but he's got about two-thousand zon."

Cafnur was a bit surprised by the amount, but tourists commonly carried large sums. "Yes, this is much more than is needed. Payment can be discussed later as well."

Dr. Gennis approached, nodded to thee both, then spoke to Cafnur.

"I will need these analyzed immediately.' She gave the nurse a tray containing several phials that Sarah didn't look at too closely. Gennis then turned to her.

"I find myself in some difficulty,' she explained. "I had assumed from the Doctor's appearance he was human. This is not so. Are you of the same species?"

"No, I'm from Earth."

"Hmmm." Gennis considered this and then explained further. "As you may know, Oschnur has a planetary wide information-intellect network, the Hestis."

Sarah didn't know this, but didn't bother saying so.

"The medical information section of which I use to treat off-world patients.: Gennis hesitated and tugged at the sleeves of her white coat, clearly uncomfortable. Sarah glanced at her dark hands and noticed for the first time that she had six fingers. "I have entered Doctor's characteristics into the network but find that there is no information at all on his type or on any similar. Can you give me specific medical information about Doctor?"

"No. I've already told Cafnur all I know." For once Sarah found herself wishing that UNIT's medical officer, Harry Sullivan, was with them. Harry didn't know a whole hell of a lot about the Doctor, but he had at least examined his medically on a few occasions and could probably tell what was 'normal', "Look, do you know what's wrong with him?"

"I believe he has taken in a Tsenis parasite."

"A what?"

"A Tsenis parasite. You are not familiar with it?"

Sarah shook her head.

"It normally breeds in improperly stored fresh fruit and vegetables."

"I knew it. It was that blue thing he ate."

"You know what food it was? Kf so, we must know where you got it from." By this time Cafnur had returned and Sarah gave all the details to them both.

"He's even still got the pit from the one he ate and another one in his pocket," she concluded.

"That is very good. It leaves only the question of treatment."

"What do you have to do?"

'Tsenus is very stubborn. kastolin will kill it but we must also remove all food matter from the victim's digestive tract." That didn't sound very pretty to Sarah. "But since we don't know what Doctor is, we cannot be sure what this will do to him."

"I know-why don't you ask the Doctor? He knows all sorts of things and I'm sure he could tell you if anything you gave his would hurt him."

"I will see to this immediately. Do not concern. I will tell you his condition when finished. Tsenus is rarely critical," she reassured and left to tend the Doctor. Sarah now found herself with copious free time to wait. After some inquiries, Cafnur got her something to read; a Terran translation about the Tsenus parasite.

* * *

**o::o::o End Part 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**THE OSCHNUR SWITCH**

by ardavenport

* * *

**o::o::o Part 2**

_The Tsenus parasite, at one time, was the scourge of Oschnur. In the past, it was invariably fatal as it only allows its victim to take in enough nourishment to sustain the parasite itself. After death, the parasite feeds off its victim. But with the discovery of kastblin, the parasite's status reduced to that of major annoyance. With kastolin and effective screening techniques for fresh foods (though Kastolin is never used in this area for fear of breeding a resistant strain) Tsenus is now rarely fatal, Kastolin itself was originally discovered in the digestive tracts of animals known to be immune to tsenus . . . ._

Having gotten the gist of it, Sarah soon became bored with the technical details. She turned off the computer terminal she'd been reading from and went back to the waiting room.

When she stepped into the room it soon became apparent that the Doctor was not the only person to be eating blue food. Three or four new arrivals suffering from Tsenus staggered in. Sarah began to wonder if perhaps Oschnur had not been the perfect holiday spot after all.

The Doctor, in the meantime, was quite miserable. Having gotten the pit and the second pashay from him, Gennis was able to confirm that it was indeed the fruit that had given his the tsenus that he was now afflicted with. Fortunately he did know something about the parasite and was able to confirm for Gennis that none of the standard treatments for it would harm his, And while the Doctor supposed that the treatment was effective, he found it extremely uncomfortable and very embarrassing.

After the ordeal, the Doctor was led to a small room with two windows and two beds and laid to rest. This suited him fine. Right then he felt he could use a little solitude after all he had been subjected to.

"Doctor?"

Sarah.

"Doctor?" A little closer this time.

No doubt about it. It was Sarah. Obviously checking to make sure he was all right. He opened one eye. Then the other. Sarah had seated herself next to his bed. "Don't say it," he warned.

"Say what?"

"I told you so."

"I won't say it, then." 'Even if I did tell you so', she thought to herself, before continuing. "Besides, you're not the only person to get it. Looks like a lot of other people have been buying fruit at that stand."

"Bit catching, is it?"

"Practically an epidemic,: Sarah agreed. "Fourteen people came in with the same problem while I was waiting. And Zeges told me they'd already had two before you this morning, but they didn't know where they were getting it from . . . . "

The Doctor let Sarah go on, without really listening to what she was saying. Dreadful luck, coming down with something like this after everything else seemed to be going so well. Gallifreyans were immune to a large number of ailments, but tsenus was a tough little bug and not something even he could throw off by himself. Just as well Sarah didn't eat the she had, she'd have been down sick for a week...

"Doctor?" A light touch on his arm reminded him of Sarah's presence.

"Huh." he answered rather muzzily.

"I think you'd better get some sleep," Sarah told him.

"What?" The Doctor looked offended, but he sounded tired. "Nonsense."

He started to get up, "I'll be up and about in no time." Suddenly, he seemed to think better of the idea, laid his head back on the pillow, and closed his eyes, "as soon as I get over this,' he finished, in a smaller voice.

"Yes, Doctor."

He pondered his present condition, it wasn't like him to nod off like this, but Gennis had him drink all sorts of vile concoctions, perhaps one of those was responsible. He supposed it was reasonable. The cure for tsenus did not make you feel any better than the disease. Giving the patient a good night's sleep was better than letting him suffer. And if, as Sarah said, this thing came in waves, it also relieved the doctors and nurses of the burden of dealing with a whole lot of sick, grumpy patients.

Sarah reached over and pulled up the blanket to cover him. Gennis had taken his clothing and now he was wearing a long, loose, powder blue nightshirt. He opened his eyes a tiny bit and looked at Sarah critically.

"I don't need to be patronized," he told her, but the words were so badly mumbled that she didn't understand them.

"Shhh. Go to sleep now," she whispered.

The Doctor decided he could take it up with her in the morning and closed his eyes again.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

Sarah sat back and watched him for a few minutes, just to make sure he really was asleep. He had fooled her a few times before. When she was satisfied, she got up, left the room, and softly closed the door behind her.

Gennis, her staff, and colleagues were, in the meantime, facing an enormous work load. The total count of tsenus cases, including the Doctor, was now eienty-six. And that was only for this one, small medical facility; the total city count was over three hundred. Sarah, who wasn't really doing anything, volunteered to help and the staff found some thoroughly boring busy work for her to do. When finally free of the task she went to look for Gennis but, finding herself passing the Doctor's room, she decided to check on him first.

She silently opened the door and saw that he was still asleep, but not entirely still. He had thrown back the blanket, his arms were resting on his stomach, but his hands were moving. Some slight movement of the head and change of facial expression seemed to indicate that he was dreaming about something. Sarah couldn't have imagined what, until she recognized the hand movements - - he was working the TARDIS controls. It was a reasonable thing for him to have a dream, or nightmare, about, Sarah supposed. Soon, though, he 'turned the door control' and was still. Sarah waited a few more moments and, when he didn't move again, she pulled the blanket up over him and stepped back.

A hand lightly touched her on the shoulder.

Sarah turned around quickly to find herself facing the Siamese-cat face of Dr. Gennis behind her. She indicated that they should leave the room and the human followed the physician out.

"Your friend will be well, though tsenus does take some time to recover from," Gennis said, closing the door behind them. "I come to speak to you on another matter.

"When earlier today I could not find any information on your friend's species type, I made request for information in the general Hestis network. Nothing useful came from this, but the request was seen by K'Hes Cerin, a most notable intellectual and authority of the Hestis. She has come here and would very much like to speak to you about Doctor."

Surprised and ever suspicious of invitations from strange aliens, Sarah followed Gennis to the little waiting room which was clear of patients and now contained five Oschnurans. Three of them were loose, semi-uniforms, light green shirts belted at the waist with a navy blue sash, matching pants tucked into long, green boots. The other two wore long maroon robes, black tabbards and gold chains about their waists. One of them, a small Oschnuran with very dark, brown fur, highlighted by silvery streaks about the cheeks and ears, stepped forward and introduced herself as K'Hes Cerin. Large gray-green eyes studied the human carefully. Sarah caught the faint, but not unpleasant scent of perfume as she listened to the polite introduction.

The Hestis, Oschnur's planetary information network contained all the knowledge of Oschnur and the known universe. Through the direct mental contact that the Hestis provided, Oschnur's best thinkers drew upon all known history, art, technical science, literature, etc. or exchanged thoughts amongst themselves and others invited to the network.

"Your friend is a Time Lord from Gallifrey?" Cerin asked.

"Yes," Sarah answered very slowly.

"Very little is known to us of the Time Lords and none in living memory has met one. We would be most honored to extend our invitation to the Doctor to participate in the Hestis," Cerin said respectfully.

"I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear that. He's ill right note . . . . "

"Dr. Gennis has informed me of your friend's plight. I will not approach him until he is fully well to receive me." Cerin extended a hand to her, "If I may escort you to your lodging?"

Sarah hadn't even thought about lodging, but realized it was quite late and she had better think about it. Oschnur's day was only eighteen hours long and they were nearly a third of the way through a six hour summer night. "Oh, um, I'm not really staying anywhere."

She thought about going back to the TARDIS, but she did not like leaving the Doctor and the TARDIS was quite a distance away.

It was Gennis who rescued her. "You may stay with your friend if you wish, Smith."

Gratefully, she accepted.

"We would also wish to stay, Dr. Gennis." Cerin indicated herself and her party.

"I would be honored, K'Hes Cerin," the physician responded. After the exchange of a few more pleasantries, they parted.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

There was a bird somewhere outside. Twit, twit, twit. It sounded like a yellow mud lark.

Whisk, whisk, whisk.

Two birds.

_Funny, I didn't know I had birds on the TARDIS._

The Doctor opened his eyes. He was in bed in a darkened room. A dark sky, just barely touched by dawn, looked down at him through a large glass-paned window to his right. The cool, damp smell of morning wafted in through a wood slatted vent over the pane.

He sat up. A warning twinge from his stomach told him where he was and reminded him of the tortures of the day before. Not pleasant memories to wake up to. But the intestinal earthquakes of tsenus had faded to a mere tremor and, all in all, he felt nearly welt.

He looked about the room. There was a second bed with Sarah curled up in it. For one ghastly monent the Doctor thought that she must have fallen ill, too, until he remembered that Oschnurans, as a whole, felt that it was very important that friends and relatives be close at hand when a person was sick.

He got up and looked closely at her. When he was satisfied that she was well, he went to the door of the room and stepped out. He was in a narrow carpeted hallway with several doors with slatted windows, mostly like the one he closed behind him. Some of them had their slats pulled open to reveal a sleeping patient within.

The air was cool and smelled slightly of antiseptic. The Doctor tiptoed down the hallway and opened a plain blue door at its end. A lavatory. Exactly what he'd had in mind. After satisfying his needs there - - though what he really wanted was a hot bath - - he went back to his room with the idea of getting dressed, but was unable to find his clothes. There were none lying about and the room's closet contained only towels, toiletries and medical supplies. There was a box on the table between the two beds that contained all the things that had come out of his pockets the night before. His shoes were under the table.

As quietly as possible, he prodded through the box until he found the TARDIS key. He put the chain around his neck and left the room.

He pondered his next move. He couldn't just go about waking everybody and asking for his clothing. The Doctor decided that this was a good time for some discrete snooping. A twenty minute search turned up three bathtubs, five visitors in the waiting room, and his clothing.

He found the last items in a gray room with an automated washer in the corner. After getting dressed, he decided to go back to his room for his shoes. But first he wanted to look at the people in the waiting room again.

Early morning had changed to gray dawn, so he was able to see them moderately well. Two K'Hes! And three acolyte Hes as well. Each one sat with feet on floor, hands in lap, relaxed and with eyes closed. How odd that they should be waiting here. Obviously someone they felt was too important to leave had taken ill. Perhaps a relative.

The Doctor didn't wish to disturb them but he had never actually met any Oschnuran K'Hes and he couldn't resist the temptation to lean over and take a closer look at the one with the silver streaked hair.

"Ulliluuuuggg." His stomach suddenly made a rude noise.

Two large gray-green eyes snapped open and stared back at him.

Cerin rarely allowed herself to show surprise, but this time she felt quite justified. Two blue circle-within-a-circle human eyes stared back at her. Even more disturbing was the large fleshy projection pointing at her from the center of the face. The human leaned back.

'Hello. Terribly sorry to disturb you like that," he apologized, in a appallingly loud voice that immediately woke the other members of Cerin's party.

Cerin had recovered her dignity and now appraised the intruder. He was very large and had longish, brown head-fur that curled about his head, His clothes . . . he wore an unbuttoned vest, a white shirt loosely tucked into rough gray trousers. Over this he wore long, wrinkled gray coat with black cuffs and collar, A long many-colored, wide strip of knitting looped carelessly about his neck and trailed on the ground behind him. He wore no shoes, but a pair of socks was sticking out of one of his coat pockets. He parted his lips in a smile that displayed all of his large, square white teeth. Cerin reminded herself that this was a sign of good emotions for a human.

"No apology is needed," she said smoothly, as she continued to review the human. His mannerisms were friendly and he certainly seemed harmless. "Do you wish something?" Cerin asked.

"Oh, no. I was just wondering - - " This was as far as he got.

The gray furred receptionist, Zeges, stepped in the room to see what the noise was about and was shocked to see that a patient was up. He rushed to his side. "You should not be standing, D-"

"Oh, piffle! I feel such better. "Thank you very much for your attention yesterday.' He grinned at him.

Zeges was aghast. It was unheard of for a patient to be up like this, the day after being treated for tsenus, especially a human. But this one wasn't human, was he? Regardless, Zeges knew that Dr. Gennis would not want to see his wandering about the hallways.

He took his arm, just above the elbow, with both hands. "Please come with me," he insisted.

When the patient resisted, Cerin stood. "Please, sir, follow this young one's advise. I am sure it will do you no harm and I and my party will be here for the day at least if you wish to speak to us again."

Still uncooperative, the patient tried to start a conversation. Then he realized that he was outnumbered and he relented. He turned to leave with Zeges.

"May one inquire as to your name, Sir?: Cerin asked, not really concerned with who he was, but it was polite to ask.

"Why, certainly," the Time Lord replied. "I'm called the Doctor." Then he disappeared through the doorway.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

The afternoon sun shone brightly through the holes in the ivy covering of the crystal ceiling of the Chez Schutch dining room and spread green and purple reflected light throughout the room. Sarah helped herself to some desert and after dinner wine.

"You're sure you won't change your mind, Doctor?" Cerin asked, passing a full goblet to the Doctor.

"Yes, yes. I'm afraid I must decline."

"Oh, you needn't feel obligated . . . . "

"1 know. The Hestis has a reputation for discretion. But Sarah and I have to be going."

Sarah didn't know of any place or time that she and the Doctor had to get to, but she nodded, mouth full. She could see, strange at it might seem, that the Doctor didn't want to get involved this time.

"But the situation in the Hestis is so delicate now. Perhaps someone of your talent and experience. . . . Surely you could advise us on a best course once you became aware of what Ayal is planning."

"Oh. I don't think you need me for that.I'm sure you'll settle your dispute with Ayal. She looks like the reasonable sort." The Doctor nodded toward the flat viewer lying on the table beside Cerin. It was dark now, but when Cerin had held it up earlier, it had displayed a short history of the Hestis, neat graphics on its operation and a few choice clips of Ayal expounding her viewpoints to attentive intellectuals. The whole production had been so slick that the Doctor felt as if Cerin was earnestly trying to sell him something. It appeared that Cerin's problems had more to do with politics than anything else.

"It is far more than a dispute, Doctor. Ayal intends to impregnate the entire Hestis with her views..."

"I doubt she could brainwash the entire planet."

"Ayal is the Master Engineer of the entire memory expansion project. She has access to all Hestis facilities and mechanisms. You do not understand the capabilities that this entitles her."

"She would have to have an army of co-conspirators to rework the Hestis in her own image. Not to mention a cohort at every terminal on the planet to alter the devices."

"It is a grand scheme, but not one beyond Ayal's daring."

The Doctor silently sipped his wine. Sarah noticed that he didn't touch the dessert and had eaten rather lightly throughout the meal, which wasn't at all surprising.

"She is planning something, Doctor. Surely this conflict would interest you. You have intervened before in such matters. Your reputation proceeds you." Cerin seemed reluctant to take 'no' for an answer.

"Yes." The Doctor glanced critically at Hes Opmer, who had dug up an impressive amount of historical information about him after alerting Cerin to the fact that a Time Lord was laid low with tsenus in Port Kal Echnur. The bulk of Opmer's information about him centered around a small palace coup that the Doctor had helped avert apparently some six hundred years ago relative to Oschnur. This previous incident had convinced Cerin that he was willing to get involved in a policy dispute between the intellectual and practical usages of Hestis energies.

The Doctor had not paid too much attention to the details of Cerin's presentation once he saw where it was leading. The Doctor couln't think of anything he would rather stay away from. Even the thin prospects of some foul play were not enough to lure him in.

_Strange how my old sins tend to catch up with me. Haven't thought about that business on Cynost since my last regeneration._

His eyelids drooped, his mind wandering back to that old adventure.

His head suddenly jerked up. Cerin was reaching across the table toward him. The Doctor put an elbow on the table and cupped his chin in a hand.

"You should reconsider your non-involvement, Doctor." Cerin fiddled fastidiously with a plate full of crumbs while Hes Weskis and Hes Opmer squirmed in their seats. They were waiting for something, had been for the past few minutes, but the Doctor couldn't fathom what it was. He slouched even further down in his seat and propped his head up with both hands. The two Hes refused to return his gaze.

"More wine . . . .?" Cerin inquired a little nervously.

The Dcotor made a face. He turned his head to Sara to see if she wanted any. His companion was slumped forward in her chair, her eyes closed, head resting on the tabletop. He turned back to the Oschnurans.

Slowly, he took a hand from under his chin and lifted his goblet to his lips. "Hmmm. . . " He frowned, sipping carefully. "It's definitely the wine . . . " The cup slipped from his fingers, spilling its contents on the tablecloth before his head slid down into the puddle.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

Sarah opened her eyes. White ceiling. She turned her head to the right. White wall with a table of electronic equipment and cabinets of colored liquid and cotton balls. What happened? The last thing she remembered was having lunch and . . . .

What had happened?

Sarah tried to sit up but found herself securely strapped down to an examination table. Craning her neck back, she could see a wall of flashing lights, buttons and dials. to her left was . . . . the Doctor, lying on another table.

But he wasn't strapped down.

"Doctor!" Sarah cried in as loud a whisper as she could produce.

No response.

'Doctor!' Not quite a whisper this time.

Still no answer.

The same type of panels of lights and switches that loomed over her head were behind the Doctor except that he was connected to his, A metal headband with several wire leads circled his head and attached to a heavy cable plugged into a socket in the lower part of the panel which hummed ominously, Sarah glanced at the door of the room, Closed and no sounds of anyone approaching.

"Doctor!" Sarah yelled this time. "Doctor, wake up! Wake up, please!"

A response. The Doctor muttered and stirred, turning his head toward her and opening his eyes.

"Doctor, we've got to get out of here. I'm tied up. I can't move. You've got to untie me."

"Hmmm?" the Doctor just stared at her glassily.

"Doctor, we've got to get out of here!" Still, no useful reaction, in fact, he looked as if he might go back to sleep.

"Doctor," Sarah pleaded, in a more panicked voice. "Doctor, take the headset off. Take the-head-set-off."

The barest flicker of a response touched his features.

"The head-set, Doctor. The-head-set."

The Doctor's left are flopped up and lazily pulled his curly hair. He touched the head band and his hand locked onto it as if he sensed that there was something there that shouldn't have been. Sarah nodded eagerly.

'Take it off. Pull it off your head." The Doctor's other arm came up and the hand connected with the headband.

"Yes, take it off your head, Doctor."

With a look of profoundly stunted mental concentration, the Doctor pushed up on the metal headband.

* * *

**o::o::o End Part 2**


	3. Chapter 3

**THE OSCHNUR SWITCH **

by ardavenport

* * *

**o::o::o Part 3**

Sand. Great walls of sand. Oceans of sand. Whole skies of sound endlessly shifting and whispering at him with a million, billion, billion, tinny, granule voices. They cut off all sight with their whiteness, all sound with their voices, all feeling with their nothingness.

Then, a pinprick, a hole, a rift. The sand stopped moving and fell down and away from him. The no-sound of the shifting sand was replaced by an irritating beep-beep.  
The Doctor looked up. His hands clutched a still sliver spider, half of the whose legs were caged by a half-circle of a thick metal ribbon.

"A cerebral input?" At once fascinated, the Doctor followed the leads that snaked off to his left. "Connected to a Rouhak Teacher? And a brain wave monitor? How quaint."

'Doctor!"

He jumped and turned. Sarah was strapped down to a table next to his and she wanted to be let up. He noticed the straps on his own table and pulled them up on his chest. The buckle cane just short of meeting and the straps were already adjusted to as long as they would go. Oschnurans tended to be a little smaller in size than humans but without exception they had narrow shoulders. It made then a bit pear-shaped and sturdily built Oschnurans looked almost potbellied, which was deceptive, since their bodies didn't store fat like a human, so they never gained weight like one, either.

"Too short,' he said to himself. Without being able to pin his shoulders and arms effectively, their captors had dispensed with bonds and had set the Rouhak teacher for null input and used it to keep his quiet.

"More likely too fat. Doctor, get me out of here!"

Immediately, he was up and undoing her bonds, "All tied up, I see."

'I could do without the jokes,' she warned him, "Doctor!"

The Doctor whirled about. The door had slid open and five Oschnurans entered, Four of them wore blue tunics, trousers, and shoes, and although they weren't much taller than Sarah, they were stout and obviously strong arm types. The last wore the green and blue outfit of a Hes.

"Ah Weskis! So nice to-"

Weskis signaled to his comrades and they wordlessly advanced on the Time Lord before he could continue. Outnumbered and not able to talk his way out, the Doctor dove under the empty table to escape. One Oschnuran made a successful dive for the Doctor's legs and although he kicked violently, he was unable to get a foot free with his knees pinned together, Two others firmly grabbed his arms at the shoulders.  
Sarah, in the meantime, was easy prey with her legs not yet free. She helplessly struggled against a stony-faced assailant who held her down with one hand while the other encircled her wrists.

"I don't suppose we could talk this over?" the Doctor started, when Weskis approached with the headset. 'We haven't all bee properly in-tro-d..." His voice faded quickly as the electrodes made contact. The four dragged the Doctor out from under the table, picked him up, and gently laid his on top of it.

"Doctor! What are you doing to him?' Sarah demanded of their captors, but no response was forthcoming. After adjusting a control near the Doctor's head, one of the blue tunics came over to Sarah and reached over her head, out of her line of vision, and produced another headset. Sarah craned her neck back as far as she could, desperately trying to evade it, but the electrodes clamped firmly to her temples. She watched a hand slide out of her view again. Click! And then all conscious thought dissolved around her.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

"Hmmn. I should have watched out for that last step." The Doctor put a hand to his head and froze. "Oh no, I couldn't have!"

He sat upright and looked around. He was in a small bare room furnished with only the bed he was sitting on, two doors and a chair. One door was open and led into a tiny lavatory. The other was closed and had a square, shuttered window in its upper portion, The walls were tan and the lighting came from a covered light panel in the ceiling.

But it wasn't the dimensions of his cell that alarmed him. It was himself, He was different, changed. He swung his legs over the side of the bed to the floor. Definitely different, but a regeneration?

How? He didn't feel any of the customary disorientation that came with a regeneration. He stretched his arms out to the side and then straight out in front. Definitely shorter this time and thin, too.

Dropping his arms, he looked down. Oh no! This was too much! A sex change was an extremely rare occurrence in a regeneration.

'Not so impossible, the way you always take pot luck,' he thought.

He put the hand to the front of the tan nightshirt, There wasn't anything to be done about a regeneration this far along, but the prospects of his immediate future still panicked him. He could feel his heart pounding. He felt the left side of the chest. Thump, thump, thump, thump. Then the right side.

Nothing. The Doctor ran to the lavatory.

"That's impossible! Not with a Rouhak teacher!'

But Sarah's image in the mirror challenged his disbelief.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

Sarah sat alone in a room identical to the Doctor's. She wore a long, tan nightshirt and the Doctor's body as well.

Everything was different. The Doctor's eyesight and hearing were amazingly good. Barefoot, she felt the cold, tiled floor. Warm air recycled through a vent near the ceiling. It was fresh and had no smells at all. All the senses were different, including taste, which was most disturbing. There is nothing so private as the taste and feel of one's own mouth and to suddenly wake up and find it different . . . .

Sarah shuddered and took a deep breath. Then stopped.

It was best if she didn't think about the breathing and the hearts beating, both much slower than her own. Sarah gritted the teeth and pressed the knees together. Ugh. A mistake on both counts. The two negligible actions, especially the second, brought home even more the strangeness of, the Doctor's body.

Sarah sat there for a few moments, ludicrously wondering if the Doctor was going to be upset if he found her in his body. Then she realized that he was probably in hers. There was some perverse reassurance to this idea. It meant that they were in the same pickle.

Sarah jumped. A footstep outside the door? A key in the lock. The door opened . . . .

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

Locked. And nothing in the room to open it with. The Doctor gave the door another irritated shake and went back to the lavatory. Ugh. Sarah's hands were practically greasy. He washed them again. It didn't help. Five minutes later they felt just the same.

He leaned closer to the mirror. Sarah's eyes didn't catch all the details he was used to seeing. He jumped back, then leaned closer to the image. The mirror fogged up again. How annoying. Sarah's body temperature would be at least 20 F warmer than the room itself. Perhaps this was why her body seemed to be so subject to the least little draft from the room's ventilation system. Or perhaps it was just that her body was subject to discomfort. A minor ache, a cold floor, a stubborn itch . . . all irritating, with potentials of being blown out of all proportion to their worth.

Click.

The Doctor stepped out of the lavatory: The door to his cell began to open. It seemed that his jailors had come for a visit.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

"So nice to see you recovered, Doctor."

Sarah nodded. Silently, she looked down at the nurse sitting at a spotless desk. Briefly, she felt like she might fall, not having gotten used to the Doctor's height.

"Here are your things." The nurse handed her a tray containing the contents of the Doctor's pockets. Quickly, she used the Doctor's hands to stuff the junk into empty pockets.

"You must be very careful of yourself." The nurse batted her big, brown eyes. Sara immediately hated her. "Do not strain yourself; avoid unpleasant memories."

"I don't need to be patronized, " she mumbled.

"You spoke?"

"What about my friend?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sure I don't have anything on her." Sarah was equally sure that she knew all and just wasn't telling. "But you can leave a message for her, if you wish to tell her where you are staying."

Sarah did not know where she was staying until the nurse steered her toward a very nice inn across the street. Sarah was tempted to stay as far away as possible from that 'nice inn', but knew that she had better be on hand when the Doctor was released. So, she left a message and walked out the door.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

The Doctor stepped into the lobby of the GesKlarts Full Service Inn and nearly collided with a herd of Oschnuran children busily pushing an easy chair up the stairs to the front door. The Doctor was saved from disaster by the stud-male in charge of the diminutive army. He quickly snared the errant small ones and with the help of his mate had them rearrange the furniture to its original position. The Doctor gingerly walked around the domestication and went for the door of the Gles-Klarts Cafe and Reading Room. He found Sarah worrying at a table by the window.

There was nothing so disquieting as seeing yourself through another person's eyes. The Doctor stopped to think. He knew this sort of thing must have happened to him before, but he couldn't recall when or what regeneration it had been. Just then, Sarah looked up.

After staring at each other for a few seconds, the Doctor sat down.

"I see you've made yourself at home." It was a poor beginning.

"So have you." Sarah bit a lower lip and stared down the nose to the table top. "Doctor, what's going on?" she demanded. Unsettled by the sight of her companion, Sarah's discomfort doubled. She felt weirdly unclean, embarrassed by her appearance. And there wasn't anyone she could blame it on! Cerin was probably responsible, but the Oschnuran's motives were unclear and that was the worst part. Things were being done to her for mysterious reasons and there wasn't anybody conveniently around to point the finger at. Except the Doctor.

"I think we've had a bit of a switch," the Doctor started again.

"I can see that! Why?"

"I don't think Cerin was willing to take no for an answer."

"Well, how is this supposed to help?"

"I'm not sure. Presumably it's supposed to supply us with a reason to do some investigating. I wonder what they used to do it with."

"I saw what they did it with!"

"The Rouhak Teacher? You couldn't do a total mind transfer with a Rouhak Teacher, no matter how you modified it."

'I don't care how they did it!" Sarah cried, then immediately regretted it. The Doctor's voice was very loud so all her outbursts came out with exclamation points. After the other patrons had stopped looking at then, the Doctor spoke."

"It matters a great deal for us if we want to reverse it."

"Oh." Sarah thought about what the Doctor had just said. "Well, what was that you said about us doing sue investigating?"

'Back where we just left, at Schloosu."

"But that's a mental hospital!"

'It's also where Ayal's done the bulk of her memory expansion research for the Hestis."

"Pretty funny place for it."

"Not really. That's how the Hestis got started. Psychologists trying direct mental contact on the incurably insane; the idea sort of naturally spread to the incurably sane and it went on from there. They found out that talking directly to each others minds was a lot faster than letter writing."

"And they still keep the Hestis in the psychiatric hospitals."

"Sort of appropriate, don't you think? Ayal's primary research facilities are at Schloosu."

"How do you know?"

"I asked one of the attendants before they threw me out."

"Oh."

"And it's the most likely place where we can reverse," the Doctor looked down at Sarah's body, then at his own, "this."

"And Cerin's switched us around like this so we'd have to go poking around uncovering that plot she thinks Ayal is supposed to be planning?"

"Exactly."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of!' Sarah paused. She was starting to yell again. "If Cerin wanted to force us to do anything, she could have been a little more direct about it."

"Threatened us? Held you hostage, perhaps? To force me to cooperate?"

"Well, yes."

"Oschnurans don't take hostages. They equate it with sadism and rank it with mass-murder and infanticide. Cerin isn't human, Sarah. She's not going to do things in ways you might expect."

"We can't just do what she wants."

"Cerin, will have made sure that it's in our best interests to do just that. We can't go to Ayal. As far as she's concerned, we're working for Cerin."

Sarah lowered her gaze to think. Or tried to. Thinking came with great difficulty ever since she'd found herself in the Doctor's body. The Doctor's reasoning seemed awfully shadowy, almost contrived. But . . . but . . . she couldn't think of anything better to do.

"What do we do next?" she finally asked.

"We'll have to get back inside.' The Doctor glanced meaningfully out the window at the low gray buildings of Schloosu.

"Through the back door, I hope."

'Yes, tonight I think. Might as well get this fixed as quickly as possible. I wonder how long it's been since our lunch with Cain?'

"Two days," Sarah answered promptly.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"I asked one of the attendants before they threw me out."

"Oh."

"Two days; I wonder what they were doing all that time. A simple mind transfer would only take an hour or so and we're only four hours away from Kal Schnur by air . . . " The Time Lord paused. There was something else about mind transfers that he couldn't quite remember.

"Oh, no . . . "

The Doctor looked at his companion, 'What is it?"

Sarah hesitated. Two days. The days counted themselves in her mind. They added up to thirty-one. "Uh, . . . ah, Doctor . . . it's . . . it's the thirty-second day.' The Doctor didn't understand. Sarah looked at him in acute embarrassment. She had always counted herself as extremely fortunate for being so regular. But now she wasn't thinking of it that way. "It's that time of the month again, Doctor."

"Oh. That." The Doctor knew that there was at least one day, or week sometimes, when his female companions were not quite on. He, of course, never asked about such things and he knew that the TARDIS had all the proper facilities to handle it. But now that he was in Sarah's body, he was forced to deal with it himself. "I noticed it this morning. Uncomfortable, but it shouldn't slow us down too much tonight."

Sarah decided not to say anything more about it.

The rest of their afternoon was spent figuring rut how to break into Schloosu. They engaged a room for a day to hide out in until dark. That night they climbed under the fence, sneaked through the gardens, and entered Schloosu through a rear window.

"Doctor," Sarah whispered from below.

"Shhhh, I've almost got it open." The last fastening came loose. The Doctor tried to break the fall but gravity felled the heavy grate past grasping fingers. Sarah almost caught it, but was too slow. Metal clanged on concrete. For a moment, the two stood frozen in their shadowed alcove. When no alarm sounded, the Doctor bent over as far as the ledge he stood on would permit and handed the sonic screwdriver back to Sarah.

"Give me the scarf." Sarah tossed it up and the Doctor climbed through the window. He tied the end to a projection on the window sill, tossed the other end out, and called to his companion, "You can come up now."

Sarah didn't like trusting all of the Doctor's weight to flimsy wool, but she couldn't get a boost up like she had given the Doctor. After she climbed through the window the Doctor untied the scarf.

"Come on. And don't forget the scarf." He handed her an end.

"All right." In spite of its usefulness, Sarah would just as soon have left it behind. It was a ghastly nuisance. She'd tripped on it all afternoon until she'd wrapped an extra loop about the head. It tended to slither between the knees when she walked, but at least the tassels were out from under foot.

The Doctor led them out of the closet they were in and into a cool, dimly lit hallway. From there they flitted about the elaborately tiled corridors until they arrived at the receptionist's desk near the front entrance.

"What are we doing here?"

"We'll need a map and this is the best place to find one." A brief search turned up their prize. "Aha, found it." He pointed to a map board that pulled out of a slot behind the desk. It was a smooth shiny black plate until the Doctor found the 'on' switch. They studied the glowing rendition of the ground floor of the complex. He touched a control and it changed to another view.

"That's interesting. All the buildings are connected underground. This must be where they scanned us," he told her, pointing at the map. Another touch and another view. 'Second floor is mostly patient areas and offices."

'What's this?" Sarah pointed to the largest central building outlined in red and marked, simply, 'Utility'.

"Don't know, but it's got four levels above ground. And three below." He switched the view to the sub-basement level. All the buildings were outlined in red.

"It's enormous."

"Yes. It must be one of Ayal's projects, but it couldn't be any Hestis facilities. They're all at . . . " The Doctor paused momentarily, disturbed by a lack of memory. He knew where the Hestis was located but he couldn't remember where or any names connected to it. Sarah didn't see the Doctor's frown in the darkened reception area.

"What about that? 'Utility'?"

"It is a bit oversized for a broom closet, isn't it? What say we go over and have a look?"

"What say we get into our own bodies first?"

"Right." The Doctor looked at the map again and noted the most likely areas. Then they returned the map to its proper place and, as stealthily as possible, set out down the hall.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

"Commander,' the security person called to her superior. 'We have intruders in the hallways."

Commander Zyess looked up at the screen glowing above her head. Two humans had just opened a door leading to the Project Area. "Have them captured and identify them."

The subordinate dispatched personnel to capture the interlopers and then typed some instructions to her monitor. Written information appeared on the screen over the picture. "They are the patients that K'Hes Cerin deposited here."

"Inform K'Hes Ayal."

* * *

**o::o::o End Part 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**THE OSCHNUR SWITCH**

by ardavenport

* * *

**o::o::o Part 4**

The Doctor stopped.

"What is it?"

"We're being watched.' He pointed to a corner of the ceiling next to a pillar set in the wall. The wall mosaic blended into a gilded and rather tasteless Tiffany-style water spout that climbed to the ceiling. At its top were several pieces of cut glass desperately trying to imitate water. The Doctor was pointed to a black-backed orb among them. Odd, the Doctor thought. He knew that it was some kind of camera lens but he just couldn't put his finger on how he knew or even picture what the rest of the camera looked like.

'What is it?'

"A camera. We must be getting near something important-the security's a bit more subtle here than it was outside. Come on."

He led them back the way they'd come. When they got to a short hallway of office doors, the Doctor took the sonic screwdriver from Sarah and set to work on one of the locked doors. Many footsteps echoed in the hallways behind them. When the door opened, the two fugitives rushed inside.

The room was completely black until the Doctor found the light switch. They were in a windowless, carpeted office with no other doors. Then the Doctor spied a dark rectangle of hope. He dashed over to it and turned on a lamp.

'Ah ha!' he declared, opening a metal covering on the wall.

Sarah stepped forward, but then stopped in horror when she smelled warm blasts of carbon-tainted air. "Doctor, that's an incinerator!"

"It also leads to the basement. Sonic screwdriver."

She handed it to him. "Doctor, if we get into that thing we're going to get killed."

"Not if it's not working." He lowered the cover plate to the ground and extended anotherr hand to Sarah. "Pass me that pen set."

It disappeared down the black tunnel. Nothing happened. The Doctor pulled out a drawer and tossed its contents in. Then he threw the drawer in. too. It jounced down the gullet of the incinerator and was accepted.

"Doctor, what are we doing?" Sarah asked, chucking in a framed picture.

"These things are usually only designed to take paper and organic materials. But if someone puts in a piece of plastic or metal . . . ugh . . . it should automatically shut off," he explained as they wrestled a computer terminal to the chute. It made a horrible racket as it went down, but the incinerator kept going.

"This one seems to have a healthy appetite," he said, picking up a chair.

"You can't be serious about us getting in there." Shrill alarm bells sounded in the hallway.

"I don't think we have much choice. Unless you'd rather be captured."

A table lamp finally shut down the machinery. Distant grinding noises came up through the chute. Then the low hum of burning died away completely and the breeze from the shaft became distinctly cooler.

"After you?" the Doctor offered.

The slide down the incinerator was horrific. With the Doctor's long arms and legs, Sarah controlled the speed of descent. Grimy walls pulled the sleeves of the coat and cuffs of the pants up to scrape the bare skin underneath. She closed the eyes against the black and the soot and, worst of all, the heat. It did not hurt, but it was frightening because of what it implied was waiting for them at the bottom.

Suddenly, the walls escaped her touch and for a terrifying moment she hung unsupported in mid-air. She scrabbled frantically for support and was rewarded with sharp pains as hard, unyielding shapes and edges struck at more than a dozen points. She heard a 'whoosh' and then felt the Doctor land on top of her.

"Ouch!" For a few moments they scrambled noisily amidst the office junk and the knee-deep soot. They coughed and vainly tried to cover their mouths in the clouds of ash they stirred up. The black heat touched them everywhere. It threatened to dry the tears from their eyeballs when they tried to blink away the invading soot.

Frantically, the Doctor searched for a service hatch. Finally he found the door he was looking for. He gave it a shove just to test it. Surprisingly, the heavy metal door gave way to Sarah's small weight with an enormous clang. Cool air welcomed him and he gave into a coughing fit. Still hacking away, he climbed out of the incinerator and narrowly sidestepped the body under the hatch. Sarah started to climb out as soon as the door was clear, but stopped when she looked down.

"We must have, *cough, cough*, been coming out just when she was coming in *cough*." When they were both out, the Doctor searched the body and produced a set of long, rectangular, electronic keys.

"Doctor, are you all right?' Sarah asked, after another coughing fit. Fervently wishing he had his own lungs instead of hers, the Doctor waved her off and headed for the door.

They went into the corridor and found overstuffed supply cupboards and rooms full of unused furniture. Carefully, they worked their way down the basement corridors. There were newer, undecorated metal and concrete walls and there were few people about.

"Where is everyone?" Sarah asked, as they sneaked past a room in which two Oschnurans were sharing a snack.

"Probably upstairs, looking for us."

"They won't stay there for long."

"Then come on."

They continued on down the hall until Sarah collided with the Doctor's outstretched hand. "What . . . ?"

"Another camera. This way's blocked."

"We just went around another one back the other way."

"Well, we won't get very far just by going around them."

The Time Lord took the sonic screwdriver, made an adjustment, and pointed it around the corner at the camera. He grabbed Sarah and they stalked past.

"That'll show up as a bit of static on their screens. With any luck, they won't connect it to us. At least, not right away.

"This looks interesting." Now the Doctor stopped in front of a large double door marked with red Oschnuran script. After a few tries, he found the rectangular key that fit in the slot next to the door. Rooms and rooms of electronic equipment greeted them.

"I think maybe Cerin was right to be suspicious about Ayal."

"Why? What is all this?" Banks of mysterious machines with many lighted stations for technicians lined the walls.

"Memory storage. Collection. Processing. it's almost a complete . . . it's a huge thought bank."

"Like the sort of thing that could take over somebody else's computers?"

"It could. But it's puzzling. Oschnuran are relatively peaceful, they don't usually go in for massive campaigns like this."

"Well, all it takes is one."

"It takes more than one person to do all this."

The Doctor glared up at his companion, annoyed with her simplistic evaluation. 'It takes thousands of people to build and maintain this kind of operation. Ayal would only be the leader."

A door opened in the next room. Quickly they dashed out, away from the sound.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

Sarah turned away from the door. Many people were wandering the area now. The search had extended to the lower levels.

The Doctor followed her glance. They were in a circular room. Near its center, fixed chairs surrounded a faintly glowing pedestal in a sunken pit. Sarah fingered the thin, silver headbands resting on the tables next to each black vinyl chair. The Doctor went to the pedestal. He removed the top with the sonic screwdriver, but couldn't get a look inside. He was too short.

"Sarah, get over here." When she came over, he pointed downward. "Bend over." While she was touching toes, he knelt on top of the back.

"Hey, I'm not a footstool!"

"Well, there isn't anything else to stand on. I don't know what you're complaining about, it's my body that's getting stepped on."

"Well, I'm the one who's feeling it."

"Cerin seems to be justified in her suspicions about Ayal," he said after he'd had a look at the mechanism.

"What's in there? What is this thing?"

'It's a systems terminal for the Hestis. It's supposed to be used by the operators to make certain everything's working right and to keep anything from getting overheated.' He plucked an indented plastic card from the mechanism. 'Only this one directs more than just hardware; it can control individual terminals, too."

"Like mind control?' Sarah shifted position to relieve the pressure on the knees.

'Possibly. And don't move around,' he instructed, when he almost lost his balance. He replaced the card and delicately probed the circuitry. He knew what he wanted to do, but how to do it was coming slowly. His memories of Hestia technology, like poorly learned lessons, came sluggishly.

"I'm glad I wasn't wearing heels." Sarah watched the lights on the chair consoles around her. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, just a little minor sabotage. It won't do to have Ayal having the better of us if she decides to Introduce us to her system operations. "Footsteps and movements in the next room alerted them.

"Doctor, let's get out of here!"

'Just a minute." He made a few more adjustments and hopped down.

Sarah headed for the door, but the Doctor went to an alcove. She followed and found him climbing onto a cabinet under a trap door in the ceiling. Sarah climbed up after him. Having the advantage of the Doctor's height, she bumped the trap door when she stood up and ended up pushing it open. After lifting the Doctor through the hole, she then climbed up herself.

Sarah replaced the trap door and then the Doctor led the way down the shaft they were in, toward a faint light source. The shaft was a little dusty and only about three feet square, so they had to crawl on hands and knees. Finally, they reached an opening. The Doctor climbed out onto a ladder under the opening.

They were in a cavern at least a hundred feet deep. Lighted blue and yellow, blinking panels lined the sheer walls. Catwalks, none with any kind of railing or handhold, spanned the canyon every fifty feet or so-up, down, and to either side.

"I can't go down there!"

"Come on. We can't go back the way we came." Already standing on a catwalk, the Doctor held out a hand.

"Ooooohhhhh." She clambered onto the ladder and, hanging on tightly, she slowly descended.

"Don't touch the walls. There might be some exposed high voltages."

"Thanks for telling me!" Serve him right if I fell, she thought.

Just above the catwalk, she looked down to the floor so far below. Warm ozone-tasting air blew upward and pushed curly bangs away from the brow.

"It's not going to hold both our weights."

"I'll go first." The Doctor nimbly trotted across and stepped into the open shaft there.  
Sarah shuddered. The Doctor's body felt very unfamiliar; fat, big, and clumsy. The blinking lights all around disoriented her and she did not trust herself even on a wide catwalk. She carefully lowered herself to its wire mesh surface and started to crawl across on hands and knees.

"Sarah!"

"I'm coming!' she answered crossly. The patterned metal bit into hands, the places that were already scraped when they went down the incinerator chute and especially the knees. She tried to take her mind off her situation by trying to think of other things, but drew a blank. She couldn't even clearly remember all the times the Doctor had gotten her into similar situations.

Eyes closed, she crept across until small hands grabbed at the shoulder and pulled forward. They only had to go a few yards until they reached a covered opening. Beyond it, they entered a small. darkened room lined with gray metal cabinets. The Doctor went through them all; opening locks, turning knobs, and pushing buttons.

"What are you doing?"

"More sabotage. Creating a little confusion and turning off some of the security, I hope. It'll give us a chance to find out what they're really doing."

"How about getting us out of here?"

'We'll still be stuck with each other, so to speak. And I want to find out more about what Ayal's up to. Let's see where we are."

Unlocking the door and peeking out, they saw a long narrow room with about ten beds lining opposite walls. Two of the beds were empty and dark, but the rest were softly lit from above and each containing a sleeping Oschnuran.

The Doctor and Sarah crept down the wide aisle between the beds, toward the door at the opposite end of the room. Their footsteps echoed faintly in the cool tiled room. Something in the darkness grabbed an arm.

Sarah gasped. "Doctor," she whispered loudly.

He turned to see a shadow huddled next to his companion. Light faintly glinted from two wide Oschnuran eyes.

"Looks like you've got a friend." He moved closer to get a better look. A hand darted out and attached itself to the extended arm. The tiny hand split down the middle with two fingers and a thumb on either side, making a very effective hold.

"She's very friendly," Sarah commented nervously.

"Yes. Let's get her over to the light and see what we've got."

She followed obediently although her grip never slackened. She was a very tiny Oschnuran with big. pale gray eyes. They got her to let go, but she made petting motions and noises toward them instead.

"Sssshhhh."

She imitated the Doctor's shushing. The two crept away under her watchful eye. They sneaked out the door into a well-lit yellow hallway.

'"I thought you said they used the Hestis to cure people."

'I didn't say it worked. The direct thought transfer didn't have much effect at all on most of the mental cases they tried it on. It took too much concentration for most of them to handle."

Sarah looked back when they reached the end of the corridor. "Doctor! Look."

A train of inmates had followed them out of the room. They spilled aimlessly out into the hail, touching the walls and floors as if they were a new discovery.

A lone nurse appeared at the end of the hall, stared at the situation momentarily, then disappeared. Seconds later the lighting abruptly changed and a gentle alarm, like an incessant doorbell, echoed through the corridors. Sarah and the Doctor headed off in the opposite direction. Eerie blue lighting gave way to sky blue, then to robin's egg.

They dived into a small alcove to avoid the in-rushing authorities and waited a few heartbeats before venturing out again. The moment they were in the hall, the lighting abruptly changed to violet blue and officially dressed Dschnurans materialized. Frantically, the Doctor tried the few doors available to them. Locked.

"Doctor!" He looked up to see an Oschnuran stepping forward with a large horn-shaped device. She pointed it at the two fugitives and fired.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

The head warden watched while the invaders were carried away. They were the two brought in by K'Hes Cerin. More spies. They had been turned out as soon as possible. but had obviously found their way back in.

The warden disliked the intrigue that went along with K'Hes Ayal's project, but it was unavoidable. Ayal needed to deal with them.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

Ayal wordlessly scanned the report on her screen, accepted it, and then signaled her acknowledgment to the subordinate who'd sent it and signed off. She then turned back to her 'guests'. K'Hes Cain, Hes Dpmer, and Hes Puthus sat between two armed guards. Hes Weskis stood behind and just to the right of her chair.

"The Time Lord is not an effective instrument.: Ayal said.

"He has forced your actions with me.' Cerin and Opmer held their heads proudly, defiantly, while Puthus glanced at the two guards and wondered if he shouldn't change vocations.

"You were unable to convince him of any merit to your position, so you took something away from him and placed him in my circle. Children's games; I would have expected more. Did you think that he would undo all my work in trying to repair what you did to him?"

Cerin did not answer.

"I see from Opmer's research that he has that sort of reputation."

Cerin glared at Weskis, who coolly stared back.

"What a pity he wasn't interested in your disapproval of me." Ayal continued.

"He did not understand . . . ."

No one understands if they disagree with you."

'I have my own spies in your circle.' Cerin leaned forward. 'You are recreating the Hestis in your own fashion; to be controlled by you. If I had discovered this sooner, the Time Lord would have known of this vile creation and seen the danger."

"I do not threaten anyone. I do not intend to force anyone into my Hestis image. If I reserve the ability to control the direction of its thought, then those who do not agree need not enter."

"If the power is there it will be abused. It cannot be allowed. You exploit your privileges, the knowledge that was granted you by your position."

"I have always fulfilled my duties as Master Engineer. Nothing has been left wanting. What else I do is my own."

"But you still must hide your work. It would not be accepted, were it to be known now. You would be forced to stop and dismantle it."

I won't deny that. The few thousands who have aided me could not stand against the millions that you could stir up. But when it becomes known how stagnated the Hestis has become, the millions will be stirred by me." Ayal paused and punched a button on her desk. 'What would be said if it were known that the participants of Hestis have not been responsible for one original thought for ten years?. And that the inventions, the writings, the creativity that has been claimed were stolen from other worlds? The Hestis now is little better than an information bank, like the computing machines used by off-worlders."

Cerin seemed very uncomfortable about the last statement. Opmer turned away and Puthus wondered about taking up gardening as a profession.

"So, you plan to replace the Hestis," Cerin concluded.

"No, that was never one of my goals. But perhaps that is what you are truly afraid of. Is that what motivates you?" she asked, almost angrily. She got no answer, which did make her angry.

"My project is not yet ready.' Ayal stood and signaled her guards, who forced the prisoners to their feet. "But there is sufficient preparation for at least one function. Since my ability to control my image of the Hestis disturbs you. I will demonstrate how effective it can be."

More guards entered and removed Opmer and Puthus. Ayal and the remaining guards escorted Cerin down a corridor.

"So, the abuse of your powers begins." The prisoner seemed almost pleased that her predictions had come true, even if it was at her own expense.

* * *

**o::o::o End Part 4**


	5. Chapter 5

**THE OSCHNUR SWITCH**

by ardavenport

* * *

**o::o::o Part 5**

"O000hhhh."

"Doctor?"

The Doctor sat up slowly and rubbed tired eyes with limp hands. "Sarah, do you always feel this terrible in the morning?"

"Only on my good days," she joked.

"I'll try to remember that." He looked at their new surroundings. They were in another cell, very much like the other ones they had been in, except that this one had two beds.

Wearily, he got up and went to the lavatory. After satisfying the needs of personal hygiene, he felt barely refreshed. He felt the thin grime of unbrushed teeth and the mouth tasted liked it had been trampled in. The lover abdomen was cramped and uncomfortable and the hair a mess of snarls. He had an enormous impulse to crawl into a warm bed. It wasn't easy being human.

He reentered the cell. Sarah looked up at her body, he looked at his.

"We're back where we started from," Sarah muttered.

"Not quite." The Doctor sat down. "We have found out a few things. Ayal's building another Hestis in the basement."

"You mean, she's not taking it over?"

"I was wrong about that. My thinking processes aren't quite what they should be."

"You're not yourself." Sarah managed a half-smile.

"We're both a bit out of sorts. Ayal's decided she doesn't like the neighbors, so she's built her own neighborhood."

"How do you know that?"

"All that memory. They wouldn't need it if they were trying just a take-over. I suppose she and the people she's working with will make sure that they're in charge, but otherwise I think they probably plan on playing in their own sandbox."

"Wonderful."

They fell silent.

The Doctor concentrated on their problem. He found all the facts he knew about psychic transfer vague and unfamiliar. He had been having difficulty thinking ever since he found himself in Sarah's body. He concentrated harder. He wanted to undo a total mind transfer and he was not even certain how it had been done in the first place.

With a Rouhak Teacher? The answer seemed unformed, he couldn't picture a single function for one. What can you do with a Rouhak Teacher?

Teach. They were marvelous for imparting large amounts of data into a brain in a short time. Almost as good as a photographic memory.

What else?

Talent. Years of training in art or music could be passed on to a completely untrained just required the right kind of modifications and subject.

Modifications. . .

In some of their darker uses, Rouhak Teachers had been used to imprint alien ideas and beliefs into minds so skillfully that the victims did not even know that these thoughts were foreign. People's minds perverted and twisted to someone else's liking . . . Ideas . . . dreams . . . even . . . whole personalities had been grafted . . .

The Doctor grabbed onto the last thought before it could fly away.

. . . Whole personalities . . .

The fact disoriented him, his mind fragmenting. The crack in his psyche spread.

. . . If the Rouhak Teacher could do that and we were each hooked up to one, and a different personality could be copied . . .

The crack opened new pathways, multiplying and branching into even finer threads, breaking and destroying thoughts and memories, save one . . .

. . . over another person's personality. Then . . . I must be Sarah.

The pseudo-Doctor personality shattered about her like the hollow glass mountain that it was, the thoughts and memories crashed into unintelligible shards before disappearing altogether. It was so transparent now. So obvious, she thought, How could I have ever thought . . . ?

"Doctor?"

Sarah opened her eyes and looked at her companion.

"Doctor?"

_Oh no! He still thinks he's me._

She sat there, flustered. The Doctor/Sarah had obviously seen the outward sign of her mental struggle. He/she walked over and sat down next to him.

"What's wrong?" he/she asked.

"Oh, um, nothing. I just had a thought.' She was uneasy about just blurting out to him that he was the Doctor. What would I do if someone told me I wasn't me?

She doubted his/her response would be positive. Grimly, she realized it had been the Doctor's personality that had thought her out of her predicament. Could she, perhaps, get the Doctor to think his way out, too?

"Umm, ah, Sarah, I've been thinking about that . . . Rouhak Teacher."

"What about it?"

"Well, I think . . . um . . . it might give us a clue about how to . . . ah . . . reverse the process."

"How?"

"I think it was used as part of . . . the process . . . and we might be able to figure out how they did it."

"W-what do you want me to do?" he/she asked uncertainly.

"You got a good look at it and . . . I want you to remember everything you can about it." Sarah turned to face him. "I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on remembering everything you can about it."

The Doctor/Sarah appeared confused and then backed away. "Oh no, you're not going to try that on me!"

For a moment Sarah didn't know what he was talking about. Then she realized what it looked like she was trying to do. Sarah hated being hypnotized and the Doctor in his present state had the same sentiments. . . . Hypnotize? . . . That would do it. But could She hypnotize the Doctor even if he thought he was she?

The Doctor/Sarah eyed her suspiciously.

_Why not give it a go? Can't get in any deeper than we already are._

"Oh, come on, Sarah. It won't hurt and I really do need your help on this part."

He/she still hesitated, biting a lower lip in indecision.

"Please?" she added.

The last appeal worked. "All right," he/she mumbled.

"Okay. I want you to concentrate." She stared right into his/her eyes and put her hand to the temple. At the touch of her fingers, his/her expression went blank.

Sarah sat back in surprise. She waved a hand in front of his eyes-no reaction. She couldn't believe it; she'd actually hypnotized him and solely on the strength that he thought that he was her.

_He's got you pretty well trained, hasn't he?_ Sarah pushed the thought away.

"All right, ah, I want you to concentrate on the Rouhak Teacher. Think about it. Try to remember everything you can about it."

For a moment, her words had no visible effect. Then the brows knitted and the head lowered with the weight of a thousand bits of knowledge Sarah Jane Smith could not possibly know. Millions of thoughts crowding her, suffocating her, linking and forming its own entity. She struggled with the ever increasing avalanche until finally giving in to the desire to stop trying to understand. Feebly, she let go her thoughts and . . . stopped existing.

And only the Doctor was left behind.

He blinked. The avalanche that buried the Sarah-mind had uncovered his own.

"Sarah," he stated, grinning broadly.

Sarah let out her breath and sighed in relief. "I was afraid it wasn't going to work." She returned his smile briefly before they both looked about the room with their own eyes. They were themselves now, but still imprisoned.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

The two travelers were escorted to the lower levels of the complex. The halls and rooms were weirdly familiar, seen through each others eyes.

Ayal glared at them from within the circle of chairs.

"Aha, K'Hes - - " the Doctor began, but Ayal wasn't having any of it. She pointed to a couple of chairs and the two were rudely shoved toward them. The Doctor stumbled into the pit, made a short-lived attempt to elude the guards, and was thwarted by his own scarf. The guards picked him up and shoved him into the nearest chair. Another set of guards marched in.

"Aha, Cerin - - " the Doctor began again, but Ayal still wasn't having any.

"Be silent!" Ayal ordered crossly.

"Oh, I think you might - - "

At a signal from Ayal, two guards gagged him. He mumbled around the heavy cloth shoved in and over his mouth while the attached straps were pulled back, pinning his head to the back of the chair. More guards tied his forearms and wrists to the armrests.

"Doctor!"

Sarah started to rise and found herself treated in exactly the same fashion.

Ayal ignored them and spoke to her fellow K'Hes. "This is ended, Cerin. Not well for you."

"It will not end, Ayal. I am not alone."

"Neither am I. Your autocracies will end. I have your spies and I have you. These intrigues finish here." Ayal signaled to more guards and Cerin was seated and strapped down. Then she and a Hes took metal and wire circlets and attached them to their prisoners' heads.

"Nam. uuhdoo aaahh ffiahai mmrrruuu,' the Doctor mumbled conversationally. Ayal ignored him.

Sarah, eyes wide, faced the central column. Her eyes looked to the Doctor and back to the pillar. "Mmaaahhaaa!"

Ayal ignored her, too. She and Hes Weskis seated themselves and attached their own metal circlets. Ayal touched a control on the armrest of her chair.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

**Help.**

It was worse than being in another body. There was no body at all. No sense of breathing, no heart sounds. Even her thoughts weren't all in one place. Random alien memories flitted in and out of view, leaving a continuous trail of things forgotten. Static noises, after images of the, the leftover glow on closed eyelids. But there was no voice and no eyes.

**Doctor, help me.**

Image pieces swirled and congealed. The white noise died down. Sensation akin to touch returned.

Darkness: she could actually see darkness.

She stood in a weird abyss. Above was a solid dark gray sky, the horizon cut by a jagged, inky blackness like a distant mountain range. She looked down below the plateau she stood on and saw millions of stars spattered on a bottomless sky. She choked and closed her eyes. The image was still there. Panicked, she tried to shut out the image, but opened or closed . . . her eyes saw the same thing.

She tried backing away, but although she felt her legs working, she got no visual sign of movement. Then she noticed she wasn't really standing on anything solid anyway.

**Sarah.**

She jumped, cried out, and turned to meet the sound. Hands grabbed her forearms.

**Doctor!** She could just make out his shadowy outline directly in front of her.

**It's all right. You're doing fine.**

**Fine? Wh-what am I supposed to be doing?**

**This is Ayal's world and welcome to it. We're in her version of the Hestis.**

**What ha-happened?**

**You reversed the control circuits on Ayal's entry terminal. Or I did, depending on how you look at it.**

**But how did you know?**

**I saw you do it.**

**But I was standing on top of you!**

**I could still see the indicator lights at the terminal connections. I didn't know what they meant until I saw Ayal's set-up again. That's why I fell in front of the chair with the reversed connections.**

He started walking, taking her with him, but with no sense of direction she had no idea of where. She clung tightly to the Time Lord and trembled slightly. **What is this place?**

**Mental projection. You're doing very well for someone who's never been in one of these before. I like the scenery.**

**Thanks,** Sarah answered.

**Nice and simple. There's something to be said for limited imagination.**

**What?**

**Well, if you really had a taste for it, we might have a very garish landscape. Flying planets, plaid skies, purple Daleks, Cybermen . . . ' Colorless ghosts of each flashed before Sarah's eyes as the Doctor spoke.

**Doctor!** Sarah shivered violently.

**Are you cold?**

**Y-yes, I'm cold. I've been cold ever since I got into this place,** she complained.

The Doctor stopped walking. **I think we'd better get you out of here.**

**Just when I was beginning to enjoy myself,** she told him sarcastically. **How am I supposed to do that?**

**Well,** she saw his darkened outline loom before her. **All you have to do is concentrate.**

**Oh, no...**

The Doctor's face momentarily gloved before her, his eyes wide. She gasped before reality, her consciousness along with it, fragmented.

* * *

**o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o o::o::o**

* * *

"Sarah?" Something tapped her nose.

"Uuuumamam . . . ' She lazily lifted her head without opening her eyes.

"Sarah?' A cool hand touched her brow and another, shaking her head slightly, cupped her chin.

"Aaaooowwww." She futilely tried to shoo the Doctor away.

"Come on,. Sarah,* he persisted.

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes. "It's not time to get up.* She closed her eyes again. The Doctor took her by the arms and shook her. Sarah opened her eyes again, glared up at him, and then at her surroundings.

"What happened?" The guards were gone, the room was empty, except for themselves and apparently Ayal and Cerin. The two K'Hes were seated on the floor amidst the ruin of the circle's center pillar. Its electronic guts and thousands of small components littered the floor.

"1 think it goes here." Cerin told her comrade uncertainly, running a hand through the fur on her head.

"No, no, no. Over here." She stuck a long, plastic rod with a light on the end into a maze of spiny square parts. They congratulated one another and continued.

"Coming along well?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh yes, quite veil," Ayal answered. 'It might even work again when we're done. If we find all the pieces,' she added.

"Doctor?" Sarah tapped his arm. "What did you do to them? How long have I been asleep?" she asked, when he looked her way.

*Oh, just about an hour or so," He turned back to the two K'Hes. "I managed to impress on our hosts our point of view on recent events."

*How did you do that?*

*I temporarily copied my personality over theirs."

*What! You didn't! How?"

"The Hestis equipment is more or less built on the sane principle as the Rouhak Teacher, except that it's quite a bit more sophisticated and it's built for two-way communication. And since I was the lead in the control circuit, you might say I just took over."

A rectangular component skittered across the floor and Cerin scrambled after it. The Doctor stopped it with his foot.

"Oh, thank you," she told him, with a flourish of the Doctor's mannerisms.

"You're welcome," the Time Lord answered in the same fashion. He pulled his hat out and stuffed it on his head. "Sorry we can't stay to see how your little project turns out, but we really must be getting back to the TARDIS." He nudged Sarah toward the door. "So nice of you to loan us your private transport."

"That's all right. I shan't be using it for a while." Cerin went back to the electronic wreckage on the floor.

"Good-bye." He nodded toward the two Oschnurans and pointed his companion toward the door, but she paused at the threshold.

"You can't just leave them like that!"

"'Oh, they'll revert back to themselves in a few hours. Long enough for us to get back to Port Schnur."

Two Oschnurans, one of whom Sarah recognized as Hes Puthus, approached and the Doctor introduced the other one as Head Warden Tuz. They nodded approvingly down at the two K'Hes.

The Doctor smiled at his handiwork. Sarah had a momentary flash of feeling very small and sweaty. She briefly wondered how the Doctor's pseudo-Sarah had felt.

"What did they really want with us?'

"Oh, it wasn't very in \teresting. Really just bad politics between the two of them. I suppose Ayal was going too far by trying to force Cerin, and us, into her way of thinking, but we've stopped that, I think."

"Well, what if Ayal tries to do in Cerin after we've gone?" Sarah didn't really have any sympathy for the K'Hes, but she didn't like seeing anybody getting shot in the back, either.

"I don't think our friends here will allow that."

Tuz and Puthus agreed before the Doctor continued.

"The only reason Ayal and Cerin got as far with us as they did is that they didn't tell most of their followers what they were doing. Ayal's whole scheme isn't very threatening, either . . . except to Cerin's pride. She needed a distraction or something to discredit Ayal. We fell in that category somewhere. It didn't really work as planned. Even Cerin botched up her part of it."

"How did you find out about all that?"

"I asked them." He cut Sarah off before she had a chance to ask about the deadly dull details. "Shall we leave?" the Doctor offered.

"Just like that?" Sarah asked, thinking that there should be something else coming.

'Well, do you know any reason to stay?"

"I suppose not. But I keep thinking we should blow something up or something."

"You can't save the galaxy every time."

He held the door open and they both exited together.

* * *

****o**o** END **o**o****

* * *

**Note:** This story was written by me and first appeared under the name 'Anne Davenport' in the print fanzine 'Time Winds' #20 in 1988.

**Disclaimer:** All Who characters and their universe belong to the BBC; I m just playing in that sandbox.


End file.
